Anthony Andreotolla lost vision on both his eyes when he was younger, but now, thanks to new bionic technology, he will be able to see again. Andreotolla suffers from a degenerative eye disease called retinis pigmentosa that affects his retina. He started losing vision in his late teens and by the time he was in is 30’s he was completely blind. But now thanks to this new technology, he will be able to see again in more than 20 years.
A bionic eye implant helped Andreotolla get some of his vision back, but it’s not the typical type of perception. According to Andreotolla, he sees what they call artificial vision. He describes it as more of a cloudy black and white vision. But it is something that has made a tremendous change in his everyday life. Not only can he navigate around his house, but he can now also commute to work. He has to wear special glasses that interact with the cameras in his bionic eye implant, but its s small inconvenience compared to what he gets back. Androtolla is one of the first few patients to receive this bionic eye technology.
“I don’t see things the way other people do. I see everything in different flashes, lights, shapes,” said Andreotolla explained. “I can tell the difference between a car or a bus or a truck. I can’t tell you what make the car is. I have my hope back. Once I lost my sight I was resigned to be blind for the rest of my life. I’m not resigned to that anymore. I believe if I can live long enough, I’ll be able to see a lot of beautiful things.”